Red Herring
by Fajitas
Summary: Sam and Dean get a simple case involving vampires. But, how simple can it be when these vampires aren't following the rules and a certain FBI agent comes to town?
1. Chapter 1

Dean refolded the newspaper and dropped it on the table in front of him. He and Sam were sitting in a cheap diner, searching for a new hunt. Dean grabbed a handful of fries from Sam's plate and said, "I got nothing. Did you find anything?"

Dean shoved the fries into his mouth and Sam said, "Yeah. A man in Wildwood, Illinois was found with all the blood drained from his body." He turned the laptop so Dean could read the article. "John McKillon, 26. He's the third victim. In the past two weeks two other men were found dead, their bodies were also drained of blood. Looks like a nest of vampires."

Dean smiled and shook his head. "What?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, man. It's just, for an endangered species, we sure run into a lot of vampires. But, I'd rather hunt them than a couple of Pagan gods."

"At least you didn't get a fingernail torn out."

Dean smirked and said, "We could take a little time off if you want to get a manicure."

"Shut up."

They left the restaurant and got into the car. Dean asked, "Where to first?"

"Uh, the bodies are at the County Coroner's office in Waukegan. It's just about twenty minutes from Wildwood."

Dean turned on the car and got onto the highway as Sam felt his eyelids becoming heavy.

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Sam woke when Dean smacked him on the arm. He bolted up and blinked a few times when the sun hit his eyes. "Where are we?" Sam asked.

"Lake County Coroner's office. So, what should we be today? FBI, ATF, NSA…"

"Federal Marshals?"

"That'll work."

They got out of the car and headed into the building. Dean smiled when he saw the red-head working the front desk and Sam rolled his eyes. She looked up as Dean swaggered over and said, "Can I help you?"

Dean put on his most charming smile and said, "I'm Deputy Hammett this is Deputy Trujillo, U.S. Marshals. We're here about the McKillion case. We'd like to speak to the Medical Examiner."

She picked up the phone and made a call to the ME. While she was talking Sam glared at Dean. "What?" Dean whispered.

"Hammett and Trujillo? You do realize that you're going to get caught doing that one day."

"You worry too much, Sammy."

The receptionist said, "Dr. Fitzgerald will see you now. Go down the hall and take the first door on your left."

Sam opened the door and saw a woman with graying hair sewing up an incision in a dead body. "Dr. Fitzgerald?" Sam asked.

She looked up at them as they flashed their badges. She huffed out a sigh and said, "Just when I thought I'd seen every possible badge this week; it's been like a convention. I really don't understand why so many of you feds have to get involved.

Dean and Sam exchanged a glance. Dean said, "The local police are only covering McKillon's death."

Sam said, "We're covering the connection between him and a Theodore Neubert and James McGowen."

The doctor shifted her eyes back and forth between the two of them. She said, "What makes you think there's a connection?"

Dean answered, "Well, all three died from blood loss and were from the same town. You really think that's a coincidence?"

Before she could reply Sam asked, "How did the blood loss occur?"

"Some kind of animal bite on the neck pierced the jugular vein. They would have bled out within minutes."

"Can we see these bites?"

She walked over to the freezer and pulled out three bodies. The boys recognized McKillon from his picture in the paper and assumed the other two were Neubert and McGowen. She turned McKillon's head to show them the neck, where there was a bite mark. The boys looked at each other and Sam asked, "So, the crime scene must have been pretty bloody, right?"

"Actually, no. Which makes no sense because the bite implies that this was an animal attack. Which also doesn't make sense."

"Why not?"

She shook her head, "It's just weird. If an animal bit them, there would be more teeth and claw marks. The wound is almost too clean. I'm sorry, there's really not much more I can tell you."

Sam said, "Thank you for your time."

The boys walked out of the building and back to the car.

"Alright, Sammy, I say it's time we head over to Wildwood and find ourselves a bar."

Sam looked incredulously at Dean, who said, "To find the vampires."

"Not to hustle?"

"Well, you know, one thing might lead to another…"

They got in the Impala and Sam opened up his laptop. "There are two bars relatively close to Wildwood. The first one is a place called Cue N You Billiards."

"Billiards?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, Mr. Buddy."

Sam smiled and they drove away. Ten minutes later they pulled into the parking lot and went inside the bar. Dean went to the counter and Sam sat with his laptop to look for abandoned areas where the vampires might be. Dean came over a few minutes later and set a beer down in front of Sam. "If there are any vampires around here, the bartender hasn't seen them. Where's the other place?"

"Just a couple of buildings down the street."

They left the bar and walked to the next one. They stopped outside the doors and Dean said, "Aria Hookah Lounge? What they hell kind of bar is that?"

Sam shrugged and they walked through the doors. Then they surveyed the room. It was dimly lit with red lights, the carpet was red, and there were no chairs, instead red cushions were placed around the room. Both brothers back out of the doors and just looked at each other.

Dean said, "That definitely was not the stomping grounds of a bunch of vampires."

They started walking back to the car. Dean asked, "What kind of vampires stay away from alcohol?"

"Well, Lenore and her nest didn't frequent any bars."

"They also didn't kill humans, these vampires obviously are."

"Good point."

They got in the car and Dean said, "Are there any deserted farms or cabins around here?"

Sam searched on his laptop and said, "No. In the past two years every piece of farmland in or around Wildwood has been built on. I don't see any place where there could be a nest."

"Okay, then let's head over to where the bodies were found. You said they were found in some forest?"

"Yeah, by Twin Lakes Blvd."

The drive only took a few minutes. They parked the car alongside the road which had a forest on the right side and houses on the left. They got out of the car and Dean opened up the trunk. He and Sam each grabbed a machete and headed into the woods. "How far in were the bodies found?" Dean asked.

"The first one was found right by the edge of that lake over there."

Dean scanned the area with his flashlight and said, "This is weird."

"What?"

"Well, you can still see the road from here. Don't vampires usually prefer more secluded spots to do their thing?"

"I guess there just aren't a lot of options around here."

"Alright, why don't we split up and check out the places where the other two bodies were found?"

Dean headed off to the left, towards the other side of the lake and Sam went right. Neither of them noticed the creature that was watching them. And Sam didn't notice when it started following him, waiting for the moment when Dean would be out of earshot.

A/N: I would like to thank my unofficial Beta, CB Walters for editing this. Because she's amazing. She's Batman. Yeah, I watch way too much Supernatural.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sam move around the tree line near the lake. He was beginning to get puzzled by the case. Dean was right, vampires usually attacked in the middle of nowhere and they needed somewhere to house their nest. These vampires weren't following any of the usual patterns. Sam was lost in thought when something knocked him to the ground. He tried to get up only to have something dig its knee into the small of his back.

"Dean!" Sam yelled out, but he wasn't sure if Dean would be able to hear him. He couldn't reach his machete from where it had fallen and every time he tried to throw it off him, he was slammed back to the ground. It put one hand on the back of his head, keeping him pinned and used the other hand to pull down the collar of his shirt, exposing his neck. Sam cried out in pain when the thing dug its teeth into his skin and began to drink his blood.

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Dean had finished searching his side of the lake and had found nothing. He was beginning to think they weren't dealing with vampires or that the nest had moved on. He made his way back to where he and Sam had split up when he heard an agonizing yell. "Sam!" Dean shouted as he ran towards the sound.

He moved around a group of trees and saw Sam lying on his stomach. Sam rolled over and Dean helped him up. "You alright, Sam?"

"I think so," he said. He put his hand over the wound and blood began seeping between his fingers. "Damn thing bit me."

"Alright, let's get out of here before the things comes back with its friends."

They moved quickly towards the car and got in, driving away. Sam pulled a couple of gauze pads from the first aid kit and held them over his wound. He grabbed the laptop out of the backseat and searched for a hotel. After a few moments he said, "Nearest hotel is someplace called the Country Motel a few streets over."

Dean pulled into the parking lot and practically ran into the office. He asked for a room and handed over one of the newest credit cards he had. As he was signing in guest book, a name caught his eye. He looked closer, making sure he wasn't seeing things, and his eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" he whispered under his breath.

Dean practically shoved Sam into their motel room. On the right was a small kitchenette and behind that was a couch and TV. On the left side were the two beds and the bathroom. Dean walked Sam over to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet, wondering if he should tell him what he had just found out. He decided Sam had had enough excitement for the night and began cleaning his wound out. When he was done he washed his hands and said, "Dude, you're going to have one hell of a hickey in the morning."

Sam smiled weakly as he left the bathroom and threw himself down on his bed, falling asleep almost instantly. Dean tossed and turned for a while, worrying about what he was going to tell Sam in the morning. He didn't know how he was going to tell him, but he knew Sam had to get out of town as soon as possible. He figured he could at least let Sam get some rest, but in the morning he was going. Dean was still worrying when fatigue overtook him and dragged him to a restless slumber.

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Sam woke up the next morning when he heard Dean coming through the door. He slowly sat up and grabbed his neck as the dull, numbing pain kicked in. Dean tossed him a bottle, "Take a few of these."

As Sam swallowed the pills Dean sat on the other bed facing him. Dean pulled out his gun, slid the clip out, tapped it again the handle of the gun, then slid it back in.

Sam asked, "What's wrong?"

Dean looked surprised, then realized he had tipped his hand by giving in to a nervous habit. He cleared his throat, "We may have a small problem."

"What?"

"When I was signing in yesterday I recognized one of the names in the book."

"Whose?"

"Victor Hendrickson."

"What? Dean, why didn't you say something? We have to get out of here, now!"

Sam stood up and started throwing things into his duffel bag. "Wait a minute, Sam. I'm going to stay."

"We can't, Dean. We can always send someone we know to finish the hunt."

"I didn't say 'we'."

Sam froze and looked at his brother quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

"Sam, by the time another hunter gets here, more people will be dead. Now, I'm not asking you to stay, I actually want you out of here. But I'm going to finish the hunt."

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself. Besides, if Hendrickson catches you…"

"He'll what? Throw me in jail for the rest of my life? Which is a grand total of, what, four more months now?"

Sam started fidgeting and clenching his teeth at the mention of Dean's deal. Dean said, "We don't even know if Hendrickson just happens to be here or if he tracked us."

"That's right, we don't know and we should get out of here. I mean, he could be looking for us right now and if he asks around enough he's going to find us."

"Tell you what; let's find out if he's looking for us. If he is, we'll leave right away, but if he's not we'll stick around. Okay?"

"How do you suggest we find that out?"

Dean smiled cockily and said, "I found out his room number."

Sam's jaw dropped. "You want to break into the hotel room of a federal agent? Have you lost it?"

"You don't have to come," Dean said, leaving the room. Sam cursed under his breath, but followed Dean out the door, wanting to make sure he didn't get himself arrested.

They made their way down to Hendrickson's room and Sam asked, "How do we know he's not in there?"

Dean paused. Then he knocked on the door and said, "Housekeeping."

They didn't hear anything from the inside, so Dean picked the lock and slowly eased the door open. The room looked almost exactly like theirs except there was only one bed in it. The boys walked in and heard the shower turn on.

Sam grabbed Dean's arm and started moving towards the door, but Dean wouldn't move. Sam gave him a look, which he ignored and made his way to the bed which had Hendrickson's things spread out on it. There were a pile of papers on the bed. Dean handed half to Sam and started sifting through them. He stopped when he came to a letter. He nudged Sam and they both read it.

The letter said, "Victor Hendrickson, we regret to inform you of the passing of your mother, Olive Hendrickson…"

Dean and Sam left the room, closing the door softly. Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder and said, "See, Sammy? Nothing to worry about."

Sam stilled looked slightly worried, but said nothing as they got into the car and drove to a diner. They sat down at a table and as they waited for a waitress, Dean asked, "Would you recognize this vampire if you saw it again?"

"No, it came up behind me and forced me down. I didn't see it at all."

"And you let something sneak up behind you?" Dean asked mockingly as the waitress came over.

They ordered and Sam got up to use the bathroom. He was standing at the urinal when the door opened and he heard a familiar voice say, "Just order me coffee."

Sam rushed into one of the stalls and closed it just as Hendrickson came into the bathroom. He went into the stall right next to Sam, who thought he could just wait it out when the agent asked, "Hey, buddy, I'm all out of TP over here. Hand me some, will you?"

Sam silently handed him the toilet paper. There was silence and Sam relaxed a little, then his phone rang. He widened his eyes as he pulled it out of his pocket and saw that Dean was calling him. Hendrickson asked, "Aren't you going to get that?"

Sam pressed the talk button shakily and tried to disguise his voice as he said, "Hello?" and waited to see if Hendrickson would recognize him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dean said, "Dude, I just saw Hendrickson! We've got to get out of here."

Sam listened for sound coming from the stall next to him, but didn't hear anything. "I know," he said into his phone.

Hendrickson flushed and then left the bathroom. "Did you see him?" Dean asked.

"Not exactly. Meet me back here and we'll duck out."

Sam left the bathroom and Dean walked over, careful to avoid Hendrickson's gaze. They went through the kitchen and out the back door. As they walked, Sam explained what had happened. "And he didn't recognize you?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "I guess he's just so used to arguing with _you_. Besides, his mother just died. I'm sure we're the last thing on his mind."

They drove to another diner to eat and sat down. There was a paper left in their booth, which Sam picked up and turned to the front page. He raised his eyebrows and Dean asked, "What is it?"

Sam turned the paper around so Dean could see. "They found another body?" Dean asked.

"This morning."

"I guess after we left it must have found someone else to eat."

"Think we should go talk to the coroner again?"

"Yeah."

They got into the Impala and drove to the County Coroner's office, not bothering to change into suits. They went inside and met Dr. Fitzgerald in her office. She looked at the two of them and said, "If you're here about the new body, there's not much I can tell you. I haven't even had time to start the autopsy yet."

Sam said, "Just tell us what you know about the victim."

She stood up and pulled out a file. "His name was Noah Bingston, 27 years old. Appears to have died the same way as the others."

"Have you determined time of death yet?"

"Yes…"

"Let me guess, sometime late last night or early this morning?"

She gave Sam a weird look and said, "No, it was actually late this morning. Around 7:30."

"7:30?" Dean asked and exchanged glances with Sam. "And he was found in the same area of woods?"

"Yeah, and the same bite wound on his neck."

"Uh, thanks doc," Sam said and they left.

When they got back in the car Dean asked, "Since when do vampires venture out in the daytime to kill?"

"I guess technically they could if they were hungry enough. But I've never heard of it happening. It just doesn't make sense."

"There's a lot about this case that doesn't make sense. Where's the nest? And since when is there a pattern to a vampire's victims? So far all these stiffs have been men in their twenties."

"I don't know. But I think we should go out again tonight, see if there's anything we missed in the woods."

"You sure you're up to it? That was a pretty nasty bite."

Sam nodded. "I'm fine. But I think we should be more prepared this time. There's a funeral home a few blocks away from where we're staying."

They drove back to Wildwood and Sam gave Dean directions to the funeral home. Sam looked at the building and all the cars in the parking lot. There was also a hearse pulled up alongside the home. "Looks like there's a service today," Sam remarked.

Dean shrugged and got out of the car. "Doesn't mean we can't still get what we came for."

As they walked through the front door they noticed more than one person look at them disapprovingly. Their attire wasn't exactly funeral appropriate. Dean froze and said in an exasperated tone, "Of course."

He gestured towards a sign and Sam realized what he was talking about. There was a sign set up on an easel that read "Funeral Service for Olive Hendrickson." The boys exchanged an incredulous look, then they heard a voice behind them by the entrance.

"We're very sorry for your loss, Victor. Your mother was a wonderful woman."

Their eyes widened and they dashed further into the funeral home. Dean whispered, "We're here anyway and we can't get out the front. Let's get the blood and wait until the coast is clear."

Sam nodded in agreement and Dean led the way down the hall. They reached a door marked "Embalming" and went inside. A corpse was laid out on a steel table. There were tubes attached to the body and a tank filled with embalming fluid. Next to the body were containers of blood. Dean put the lid on one of them and tucked in into his jacket. Then he motioned for Sam to follow him as they left the room. They hovered outside the foyer, waiting for everyone to go into the viewing room.

They heard Hendrickson say, "Whose car is that?"

Dean cringed, hoping Hendrickson had not spotted his baby. Someone asked, "Which car?"

"That '67 Impala."

"I don't know. It might belong to Uncle George, you know how he and classic cars are. Why?"

"I just…know some people who have a car like that."

"Well, it's not the most common car, but the odds of it being your friend? Come on, I think they're starting the service."

"They're not friends, they're criminals. I should check it out."

The other person sighed. "Don't you think you can set your work aside for a few hours to lay your poor mother to rest? Besides, I doubt those criminals you're worried about would be stupid enough to come to the funeral of a FBI agent's mother."

Dean mentally thanked whoever talked Hendrickson into leaving the entrance. As soon as the foyer was deserted he and Sam made a beeline for the car, jumped in, and Dean drove away as fast as he could.

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At ten that night, Sam and Dean drove to the woods. Dean parked the car and opened the trunk. He and Sam pulled out their crossbows and arrows. They dipped the metal tips of the arrows in the dead man's blood and loaded the crossbows. They each grabbed a machete and headed into the woods.

They had both decided it would be a bad idea for them to split up this time, so they cautiously made their way with the crossbows held out in front of them. They were in sight of the lake when they heard a noise behind them and turned around at the same time. There was a woman standing there with long black hair. She was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Dean quickly scanned the surrounding area, but didn't see any of her friends.

She ran towards them and Dean pulled the trigger on his crossbow. The arrow hit the woman. But, instead of passing out from exposure to the blood, the woman disappeared as soon as the tip of the arrow hit her. The arrow shot through the space where she had been and landed on the forest floor.

Dean and Sam looked at each other and at the same time asked, "What the hell?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The creature appeared in front of the boys again and Sam shot at it, with the same result. It disappeared as soon as the tip of the arrow hit it. They looked at each other and started running out of the forest. When they reached the car, they jumped inside and Dean drove away. "Sam?" Dean asked.

"I don't know."

"What the hell was that thing?"

"I don't know!"

When they got back to the motel, Sam was out of the car before it had even stopped. He ran into the room and pulled out the laptop. Dean came in behind him and sat down on the bed, while Sam started searching at the kitchen table.

"Okay," Sam said. "We assumed this creature was a vampire because of the COD, but it acts more like a spirit."

Dean gave him a look. "So, what? A vampire got bumped off and came back as a vengeful spirit? Are you suggesting we salt and burn its decapitated corpse?"

Sam shrugged and said, "I'm not saying that's what it is, but you have to admit that's what it's acting like. The pattern of the victims, the fact that it's always the same location, and as soon as it came into contact with iron it disappeared. That definitely sounds like a spirit."

"Well, we've never dealt with anything like this before and neither has Dad. At least I don't remember anything in his journal about a vampire ghost."

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard of this before. It could take a while to find any lore about it."

Dean stood up and said, "Alright, you keep looking and I'm going to head back to the woods. I'll see if rock salt slows this thing down. Maybe I can find what's keeping it tied to that area."

"We're not really sure if we're dealing with a spirit. Or it might be like a Tulpa and rock salt wouldn't work on it."

"Aw, are you worried about me, Sammy?"

Sam rolled his eyes and resumed his search as Dean left the room. Dean got back into the Impala and drove to the woods. He retraced his steps towards the area they had been at when they had seen the thing. After a few minutes of walking around the woods, Dean noticed he had been humming "Battery" and forced himself to stop. He neared the lake and took note of the houses that were closest. If anything had happened, it was probably in one of those, but he would wait until later to search them. Now he just wanted to make sure the woods were safe.

Dean looked around the lake for anything that a vengeful spirit might be attached to, but he didn't find anything. The EMF meter in his pocket remained silent. Then it perked up. Dean looked around and saw that the spirit, or whatever it was, was moving past him. He turned off the meter and raised the shotgun. She moved away from the lake and into the woods.

Dean followed, but soon lost her. He searched for a few minutes, but still couldn't find her, so he decided to go back to his car. He had only gone a few steps when he heard someone scream, "Help!"

Dean spun around to see a teenage girl running towards him. She was crying and she said, "You've got to help me! Someone's attacking my boyfriend."

"Alright, you stay here."

"No, I've got to make sure he's okay."

Dean rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He ran in the direction she had come from and saw the creature attacking a boy in his late teens.

Dean raised the shotgun and fired. Fortunately, the rock salt worked and the creature disappeared. The boy dropped to the ground and his girlfriend ran to his side.

She asked, "What was that?"

Dean honestly answered, "I'm not sure."

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Dean sighed in exhaustion as he closed the door to the motel room. Sam was still sitting at the kitchen table, his hand on his cell phone. "I was just about to call you," Sam said.

Dean nodded and collapsed face-first on the bed. "What'd you get?" he asked.

Sam stood up and moved to sit on the other bed. "Well, I think it's a churel."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"A churel. It's a kind of spirit."

"Okay," Dean said, sitting up and facing Sam. "If it's a spirit, why does it drink blood?"

"Well, churels are always women. They die violent deaths during childbirth or while on their period."

"So, when they come back they kill men by sucking their blood?"

"Yeah. They also always live near bodies of water."

"How do we kill them?"

"Usual salt and burn. There's a problem, though. How are we supposed to figure out who it is? They usually don't write on death certificates if the woman died while she was on her period."

"Well, there's got to be a reason she's hanging around that lake as opposed to another one. I'm thinking she died in one of the houses nearby. So tonight, we should go take a little tour of those houses."

"You want to break into a bunch of occupied houses?"

"Hey, if you have a better idea…"

Sam huffed a little, but then said, "Fine. We'll go at 11."

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There were four houses relatively close to the lake; each of the brothers took two. Dean turned his flashlight off when he got close to the first house. He broke in through the back door, which led into the kitchen. The beat up Walkman wasn't picking anything up as Dean moved into the kitchen, then through the dining room towards the living room.

Dean made his way back to the kitchen, when he heard a creak coming from the hallway. He ducked into the walk-in pantry, leaving the door opened a crack so he could see. A man entered the kitchen. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer, which he opened and took a drink from. Then the man started walking towards the pantry.

Unfortunately, the door swung outwards, so Dean went as far into the pantry as he could and pressed himself between two shelves. The man walked in, but didn't bother to turn on the light. He stopped about two feet away from Dean and began feeling around the shelves, trying to find something. He pulled a box off the shelf, then left the pantry.

Dean let out a sigh of relief as he heard the man going back up stairs. He slipped out the back door and began to breath easy again. The next house Dean searched and also didn't find anything. He was walking around the front side of the house when he heard the EMF go off. He stood next to the garage door and the meter started pulsing more steadily.

There was a door on the side of the garage. Dean picked the lock and went inside. There was only one car, a silver '83 Honda Civic with a For Sale sign in the window. When Dean held the EMF meter to the back seat, the whiney alarm became insistent. Dean smiled to himself, pocketed the meter, and headed out of the garage to find Sam.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dean and Sam met back at the Impala and drove away. "I didn't find anything. What about you?" Sam asked.

Dean smiled and said, "Of course I found something, Sammy. It's me."

"Well, what was it?"

"There was a car in the garage of the last house I searched. The EMF freaked when I got near it."

"So you think the woman died in that car?"

"That or her spirit's connected to it somehow. Either way I think tomorrow we should go talk to the owner."

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The next morning Sam and Dean pulled up alongside the house Dean had investigated the night before. Dean rang the doorbell and the door was opened by a man who was probably in his late 40s.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Dean, this is Sam. We were wondering if that Honda is still for sale."

The man grinned and said, "It sure is. Come in." He held the door open so the brothers could enter. "I'm Joe, by the way," he said, shaking their hands. "How did you hear about the car?"

Joe led them into the kitchen and Dean said, "A friend told us about it. I don't know how he found out."

Joe nodded and leaned against a counter. "Well, it's an '83, but it's still in really good condition and runs great."

"How many previous owners?" Dean asked.

"Only four, including myself."

"Could we get a list of those names?" Dean asked.

"Sure. Let's see." He pulled out a piece of paper. "Grace Hamilton bought the car in '83 and sold it in '84, Charles Brandt bought it in '84 and sold it in '98, Amanda Cunsello bought it in '98 and sold it in '04, which is when I bought it."

Joe handed the piece of paper to Dean. "Let me show you the car," he said.

He led them out to the garage and turned on the light. Sam and Dean pretended to inspect the car as Joe told them about it. "It has about 375,000 miles on it, 4 cylinder engine, 5 speed automatic transmission. I'm asking $950 for it."

"Why are you selling the car?" Sam asked.

"Well, we just moved here from Gurnee and this mortgage is higher than the one on our last house. Something has to go."

Dean and Sam pretended to think about the offer as Joe led them back into the house. Sam finally said, "We'll think about it. We have a couple of other cars we want to look at, so we'll have to get back to you."

Joe looked disappointed that they didn't want to buy on the spot, but he nodded his head and showed them to the front door.

The boys got back in the Impala and Dean asked, "Where to now?"

"Library?" Sam suggested.

Dean started driving as Sam looked up on his computer where the local library was. While they were driving Dean asked, "How are we going to track this thing?"

"Well, if it's been following the car around, we should be able to trace where the former owners live and if there were any mysterious deaths around the time they had the car."

"And how are we going to find out who the spirit is?"

"Still working on that."

They pulled into the library parking lot and went inside. The boys made their way over to the computers and sat down. The sheet Joe had given them also gave phone numbers for the previous owners of the cars, which they could use to track down where the former owners lived.

"Okay," Dean said. "I'll take Amanda Cunsello. You take the other two."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Why do you get less work?"

Dean smiled. "Because I'm older, Sammy."

Sam glared, but must have decided it wasn't worth arguing about because he soon started typing on the computer and Dean did the same.

About an hour later the boys turned to each other. Sam said, "Grace Hamilton bought the car in Lindenhurst and there were no killings when she had the car. The first murder I could find was in 1997 when Charles Brandt owned the car. The killings stopped in Lindenhurst when he sold the car. What did you find?"

"More of the same. Amanda Cunsello lives in Gages Lake and the killings correspond with when she owned the car. There were also murders in Gurnee until Joe moved away. So whoever's spirit this is must have known Charles Brandt. What do we know about him?"

"About him specifically? Not much. I only found one article with him in it."

"Did he have any family?"

"In the article it just mentions a son, Jacob."

"Do a search for him."

Sam did and two articles came up. The first headline said "Brandt Leads Team to Victory." Sam clicked on the article and Dean said, "That's her."

There was a picture, showing a teenage boy and a girl standing next to him. Sam read the caption out loud, "Jacob Brandt, football quarterback, and his girlfriend Dora Allen. That's the woman you saw?"

"Definitely."

Sam went back and clicked on the second article. The headline read "Brandt Body Found." Sam opened the page and the brothers quickly read it.

Dean said, "So he was the third murder."

"You think he killed her?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. Do another search with her name."

Sam did and only one article popped up. "Dora Allen Murdered."

Sam read, "Dora Allen was found at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. Oh, wow. She was pregnant. Somebody cut the baby from her stomach and she bled to death."

Further down there was a picture of the crime scene. Dean leaned forward and asked, "Does that car look familiar to you?"

Sam nodded. Dora Allen's body was found in the car that Joe had been trying to sell them. The last sentence in the article Sam read, "The Allen family laid their daughter to rest in Warren Funeral Home Cemetery."

The boys got up and went back to the car. When they got in Dean said, "So, it looks like Brandt killed his girlfriend. Did they ever find the baby?"

"Not from what I could tell. Why would he kill his girlfriend?"

"You know as well as I do that people don't act rationally. How long will it take us to get to the cemetery from here?"

Sam pulled out the laptop and said, "Not long."

"Alright. I say we grab something to eat, then put Dora Allen out of her misery."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sam and Dean walked into the cemetery at midnight, carrying their shovels, salt, and gas. They found the grave easily enough and started to dig. When they reached the coffin, it was relatively new, so Dean couldn't just smash it open with his shovel. He pried it open and just as he did Sam suddenly yelled his name as he went flying into a tree.

"Sam!" Dean responded, pulling himself out of the grave. He saw the spirit leaning over Sam, getting ready to attack him again. Dean fired the rock salt at it, making it disappear.

Dean rushed towards Sam, but Sam said, "I'm fine! Burn it!"

Dean forced himself back to the grave and soaked the bones in gas. The spirit appeared again and threw Dean, but he shot at it and it disappeared again. Dean ran back to the body and salted the bones, then he lit up a match and threw it into the coffin.

Dean didn't even wait to see the bones go up in flames. He ran to his brother who was lying completely still, looking much too pale with a small trickle of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.

Dean shook Sam's shoulder and shouted, "Sam! Sammy!"

Sam groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Did we get it?" he asked.

Dean smiled a little, "Well, I got it. A certain drama queen was too busy to help me."

Dean quickly checked Sam's pupils, then felt the back of Sam's head. There was a large bump, but no blood. Sam groaned again and Dean asked, "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere. Mostly my chest."

Dean said, "Come on, Sam. You need to stand up."

Sam mumbled something Dean couldn't make out, but he started to stand up, with a lot of help from Dean. He leaned heavily against Dean as they slowly made their way to the car. By the time they reached the Impala, Dean's arms were exhausted and he was swearing about his brother's size under his breath. He pulled the door open and managed to get Sam into the passenger seat. Then he ran around to the other side, got behind the wheel, and tore out of the parking lot as fast as they could.

Fortunately, Dean knew where the hospital was. They had passed it a couple of times on the hunt. He drove up to the emergency entrance and ran inside. He announced, "I need some help!"

A nurse approached Dean and asked, "What's the problem, sir?"

"My brother, he's in the car. He's hurt pretty badly."

The nurse got a couple of EMTs and they went out to the Impala. Sam hadn't opened his eyes and he didn't make a sound as they managed to get him onto a gurney. Then they rushed him inside. Dean followed them into the emergency room. Dean wasn't sure exactly what was going on around him. He heard someone say that Sam's blood pressure was dangerously low. He heard the words 'internal bleeding' and shortly after that they operated on Sam. Hours passed, but finally a doctor came out and approached Dean.

"Mr. Sheppard?"

Dean responded as he realized that was the name he had written on the forms. The doctor held out his hand and said, "I'm Dr. Youngstom."

"How's Sam?" Dean asked, shaking the man's hand.

"It's a good thing you brought him in when you did. He had a minor concussion, but it's nothing to worry about. The internal bleeding is another story. One of his ribs broke and pierced his splenic artery. We had to operate to stop the bleeding and he needed a transfusion."

"But he's going to be alright?"

"Assuming nothing goes wrong with the transfusion, yes."

They wheeled Sam out of surgery then and Dean looked at the doctor questioningly. The doctor motioned that Dean could follow his brother. They went down a long hall of rooms and then entered one on the left side of the hall. Dean saw Sam lying on the hospital bed with an IV pumping blood into his body. A nurse was checking Sam's vitals and writing them down on a chart.

"Why is he unconscious?" Dean asked.

"Just the anesthetic from surgery. He should be waking up soon."

The nurse and doctor left the room and Dean took up a position sitting by Sam.

Dean was having trouble keeping his eyes open, so he went out to get a cup of coffee. When he did he passed by the front desk. The nurse approached him and said, "I need you to fill these out, sir."

Dean took the clipboard and filled out the forms. It didn't take any concentration; he had done it so many times before. When he handed the clipboard in, the woman said, "Sir, how are you going to be paying?"

Dean opened his wallet and pulled out a credit card, not even glancing at the name, he just wanted to get back to Sam. The nurse handed him the receipt and he scribbled something that passed as a signature, but no one could have possibly read it. Then he headed back to Sam's room.

A few minutes later Sam's eyes cracked open. "Dean?"

"Right here, Sammy."

"What happened?"

Dean explained and Sam asked, "But we got her, right?"

"Yeah."

Now that Sam was alright, Dean went out to the parking lot to move the Impala. Then he passed the hours drinking coffee and hitting on the nurse who came in every fifteen minutes to check on Sam. Two hours later Sam was halfway through the transfusion and Dean needed a refill on his coffee. He left the room to go to the cafeteria. He rounded a corner and froze as he saw who was at the front desk. "Crap," he muttered, then ran back to Sam's room.

"We've got to go, Sam."

Sam looked confused. "What do you mean? We can't leave now, the transfusion's not done."

"Hendrickson's out front with a dozen other cops. He's looking for us."

**A/N:** Special thank you to my amazing sister for making sure the hospital scenes were accurate.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sam's eyes widened. "What do you mean Hendrickson's looking for us? I thought he was at his mother's funeral."

"I guess he's done mourning."

"How'd he even find us?"

Dean thought for a moment, then groaned. "I'm guessing the credit card I used sent up a couple of red flags."

"What name was on it?"

"I don't know," Dean said, pulling out his wallet to check.

"You don't know?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Well, excuse me. I had slightly more important things on my mind. Speaking of which, don't you think we should talk about this later?"

Dean put his wallet back as Sam asked, "How are we going to get out of here?"

"First, we're going to get you out of this room." Dean unhooked Sam from the machines and handed him the bag of blood that was still being pumped into his body. Sam stood up, but he was slightly unsteady. He leaned against Dean who walked them out of the room as quickly as possible. They heard footsteps behind them and rounded a corner. Dean heard them kick in the door and burst in the room they had just left.

"They're not here, sir," someone said.

"When was the last time someone checked on them?" Hendrickson asked.

A nurse answered in a shaky voice, "Thirteen minutes."

Dean heard Hendrickson barking out orders for them to search the hospital as he moved Sam closer to the emergency entrance. He heard footsteps approaching again and they ducked into a janitor's closet.

Dean could hear Sam breathing heavily and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah. What are they doing?"

"Probably securing the exits."

"What's," Sam panted, "What's your plan?"

"How do you feel about pulling a Richard Kimball?"

"You want to steal an ambulance? That's not exactly inconspicuous."

"No, but it does mean traffic will clear for us."

"Fine. Whatever," Sam said, leaning against a shelf.

"You stay here; I'm going to try to find a way out."

Sam weakly nodded and Dean closed the door as he left. Fortunately, Hendrickson hadn't brought enough men to cover the whole hospital and he was probably assuming that Dean would try to get to the Impala. That meant the hallways were mostly clear of anyone in uniform. Dean moved towards the exit and could see two cops guarding it. He couldn't see any way that he could sneak up on them, though.

Dean went back to the janitor's closet and found Sam. He was slumped on the floor with his eyes closed. "Sammy."

Dean crouched down and shook Sam until his eyes opened. "Dean?"

Dean helped him stand up and said, "There are two guards by the door. We need to find a way to distract them."

"Let me," Sam said.

"How are you going to distract two guards?"

Dean looked at his brother. Sam was exhausted, but there was determination in his eyes. "Fine," Dean relented. "But I'm not leaving you alone. I'll be right behind you."

Dean helped Sam through the door and they walked towards the guards. Dean hung back just a little as Sam went around the corner. He groaned and Dean hoped it was because he was trying to get the attention of the guards. Then Sam collapsed to the floor dramatically.

Dean peeked around the corner and saw the guards slowly approaching Sam. When they got close enough Dean spun out from the corner and hit them both, knocking them out. Dean helped Sam off the ground and they left the building.

There were several ambulances parked just outside the emergency entrance. Dean went to the first one and opened the back doors. Dean helped Sam into the back and said, "Get some rest."

"With you driving?"

"Shut up," Dean said, closing the doors. He jumped into the driver's seat and after hotwiring the engine, drove away.

As soon as Dean left the hospital parking lot, he heard sirens behind him. He looked in the rearview mirror, hoping it would just be another ambulance. He gritted his teeth when he saw three cop cars and an unmarked car following him. "Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath, as he switched on the ambulance's lights and siren. He floored the gas pedal as the cars parted in front of him.

Sam's voice came through from the back, "Dean? What's going on?"

Dean tried to sound reassuring, "Nothing, Sammy. I'm just seeing what this baby can do."

Dean knew Sam probably didn't believe him, but he needed Sam to rest. Moving him in the middle of a transfusion wasn't the smartest thing either of them had ever done, but they really hadn't had another choice.

Dean quickly swung the ambulance to the right and the first cop car went off the road trying to follow. After a couple more quick turns he managed to lose another car. Dean looked in his mirror and saw that the plain car was now closest and he could see Hendrickson driving it. Dean looked up to see tracks and a train approaching on them. His choices were to beat the train or let the cops catch them. He didn't care about himself, but he wasn't about to let Sam spend his life in jail. Dean floored it even more and managed to get across the tracks without killing himself. The two cars couldn't follow.

An hour later Sam's transfusion was done. Sam pulled the IV out of his hand and left the bloodied bag in the ambulance when Dean ditched it for a more inconspicuous car. Another hour passed and Dean drove into a town called Oswego. He pulled into a small motel and got them a room. Once he knew Sam was asleep, Dean left the room and went back out to the car. He had left another member of the Winchester family in that hospital parking lot. Now he had to go back and get her.

--------------------

Hendrickson walked out to the parking lot. He had a couple of local cops guarding Winchester's car, hoping that he wouldn't be able to stay away. That's when they'd grab him. He was going to relieve the guards and take over the watch himself. If Winchester came back Hendrickson really wanted to be the one who caught him.

The parking lot was dark. There were a few lights overhead, but he could really only see the vague outline of the cars. They had moved the car to a darker spot, hoping that Winchester wouldn't see the cops watching it until it was too late. He couldn't see the officers in charge from the angle he was approaching, but that was good. When he had come out earlier, they had been standing in plain sight, talking loudly about something. Hendrickson had yelled at them and it seemed as though they had gotten his message.

The first thing Hendrickson saw was the feet. Two pairs of feet sticking out from a car next to Winchester's. He ducked down so he could see beneath the car and recognized the two men he had left in charge. He could feel his anger rising as he stood up and took a closer examination at Winchester's car. That's when he realized it wasn't the '67 Impala. It wasn't even black, but in the dark, he hadn't been able to see that.

Hendrickson was ready to run back into the hospital and sound the alarm when he saw a white envelope tucked behind the windshield wipers. "Hendrickson" was written across the front of it. He picked it up and ripped it open. There was a small piece of paper inside, which he pulled out and read to himself. All it said was, "Better luck next time," but Hendrickson knew who had left it there. He crumbled the paper into a tight ball and threw it on the ground. Then he headed towards the hospital, already wondering how he was going to write this up in his report.

A/N: Please be good enough to click that rather large button and leave me a review. I would really appreciate it and my motivation could use it.


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